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Roman Conquests: Italy
November 18, 2009
“Roman Conquests: Italy” is the first book in a new series by history publisher Pen & Sword Books. Ancient Roman military historian Ross Cowan provides a detailed accounting of pre-Republican Roman expansion across the Italian peninsula. Emphasizing the importance of this era, Cowan points out that “the famous Caesar would have accomplished nothing if the groundwork in Italy and the creation of a solid base for overseas expansion had not been achieved by the likes of the lesser-known Torquatus, Corvus, Cursor, Rullianus and Dentatus in the fourth and third centuries BC...”
...read the full review of Roman Conquests: Italy by Ross Cowan
Osprey Books Giveaway
November 10, 2009
We are happy to announce that Osprey Publishing is giving away five books. All you have to do is reply to newsletter@unrv.com that you are interested… (and which title you would prefer) and winners will be chosen in a random draw. Osprey has long been a leading publisher of ancient historical works and is offering the following titles to UNRV visitors:
Gladiator,
Spartacus and the Slave War 37-71BC,
Roman Battle Tactics 109BC - AD313,
The Roman Army: The Civil Wars 88-31 BC,
Rome and Her Enemies
Additionally, if you use the promotional code 'roman' on any title in the Ancient Warfare section of the Osprey bookstore, all customers will receive a 25% discount.
Intrusive Ideology
November 08, 2009
How pre-Modern ideologies have coloured our perceptions on Roman History
During my first year as an undergraduate, I remember having a meeting with my personal tutor in the Classics department. The sixth-form education I had received prior to this meeting had taught me a fairly two-tiered approach to history: ‘this source says this; another differs; make compromise with the two sources, and you have the ‘historical truth’.
While this may sound like a flippant dismissal of my college education – truth be told that the courses I took during this time forged the backbone of much of my historical understanding – historical context was something that was not high up on my academic agenda...
...read the full essay of Intrusive Ideology (How pre-Modern ideologies have coloured our perceptions on Roman History)
The Classical Compendium
November 05, 2009
Need some light reading this holiday season? Want a good stocking stuffer to give to someone this Saturnalia? Consider The Classical Compendium by Philip Matyszak. As with all of Maty's books, it is an enjoyable yet informative read. This tome in particular seems to be geared as a "fun" event to be enjoyed by the more casual history student. The work surveys a variety of interesting trivia from the Roman and Greek worlds...
...read the full review of The Classical Compendium by Philip Matyszak
Age of the Gladiators
October 20, 2009
You’re at a dinner party, and you overhear your neighbor discussing gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. You sidle over and slip into the conversation, “Did you know that an ape was once trained to drive a chariot pulled by camels?” Later, you check in on the teenagers in the basement watching the newly released Blu-Ray version of Russell Crowe’s “Gladiator”. After Maximus slices through the last of his latest foes, you pipe in with, “Did you know that condemned criminals (and sometimes Christians) were, in fact, thrown to lions, but they were also thrown to crocodiles, wolves, dogs and bears?”
...read the full review of Age of the Gladiators by Rupert Matthews
Surnames of the Licinii
October 11, 2009
The Licinii were the most illustrious of Republican Rome's plebeian gentes, attaining the magisterial rank of consul in 364 BCE (with C. Licinius Stolo) when the patricians had formerly dominated this office.
The plebeian Licinii, however, were not without their patrician connections. Münzer noted: "The first consular tribune Licinius is thought to have been the brother of a Cornelius (Livy 5.12.12), thus originating from a mixed marriage...; the first magister equitum Licinius was thought to have been allied by 'close kinship' (propinqua cognatione) to a Manlius (Livy 6.39.4); the first or second consul Licinius was thought to be the son-in-law of a Fabius..."
...read the full article of the Surnames of the Licinii
Eagle In The Snow
October 05, 2009
Eagle In The Snow by Wallace Breem centers on the years 405 AD to early 407. It captures a key moment in the Empire’s death throes as hundreds of thousands of mostly Germanic peoples mass on the east bank of the Rhine waiting for the river to freeze and then to walk into Gaul. The tale is an epitaph for the Roman Empire with General Paulinus Gaius Maximus serving as the lone pall bearer, carrying the weight of an empire marching inexorably toward its grave...
...read the full review of Eagle In The Snow by Wallace Breem
The Historical Figure of Jesus
August 19, 2009
It is hard to think of a more polarizing figure in human history than Jesus of Nazareth, for the very fact his adherents present him as more than human. The historical Jesus, if one exists, usually gets buried; the faithful are willing to take it on faith that Christ existed as he is portrayed in the Bible, while his opponents often consign him to the status of a fairy tale. If there is a middle ground, perhaps it is to be found in E.P. Sanders' The Historical Figure of Jesus...
...read the full review of The Historical Figure of Jesus E.P. Sanders
Black Ships
July 27, 2009
Jo Graham delivers an interesting blend of historical fiction, adventure and romance, and pagan fantasy in this retelling of The Aeneid. Quick prose, interesting characters and ancient locales combine to good effect. With a little suspension of disbelief, the reader will be transported into a page turning delight as the sails of Black Ships ferry them to a time of clashing Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures...
...read the full review of Black Ships
The Roman Triumph
July 20, 2009
I was convinced that I knew quite a bit about the subject when I opened Mary Beard's The Roman Triumph. I expected a lot of new interesting details, maybe even some major elements that normally were left out- this was, however, not the case. A week later when the book was finished and I had put it back into the bookshelf everything had changed. I knew nothing, or at least very little, about the Roman triumph. Even so, in some aspects, this is one of the best books on Roman history I’ve read lately...
...read the full review of The Roman Triumph by Mary Beard
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